HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



391 



city of the republic, Cortes affirms (/), that the enume- 

 ration of the houfes having been made at his defire, 

 there were found to be twenty thoufand. Of Huejotli- 

 pan, a place of the fame republic, he fays, that it had 

 from three to four thoufand fires. Of Cholula Cortes 

 affirms, that it had about twenty thoufand houfes, and 

 as many in the neighbouring villages, which were like its 

 fuburbs. Huexotzinco and Tepeyacac were the rivals 

 of Cholula in greatnefs. Thefe are fome of the peopled 

 places which the Spaniards faw before the conqueft } 

 we omit many others, of the greatnefs of which we are 

 certified by the teftimony of thefe and other authors. 



We are not lefs convinced of the population of thofe 

 countries from the innumerable concourfe of people which 

 were feen at their markets, from the very numerous ar- 

 mies which they raifed whenever it was neceflary* and 

 the furprifing number of baptifms immediately after the 

 conqueft. With refpect to the numbers at their markets, 

 and of their armies, we have faid enough in our hiftory 

 on the faith of many eye-witneffes. We might fufpecl, 

 that the conquerors had exaggerated the number of the 

 Indian troops, in order to make their conqueft appear 

 more glorious, but this would appear only when they 

 reckoned the number of the troops of the enemy, not 

 when they counted their own allies, as the more the 

 number of the latter was increafed, their conquefts be- 

 came the lefs difficult and glorious. The conqueror 

 Ojeda, however, numbered an hundred and fifty thou- 

 fand men among the allied troops of Tlafcala, Cholula, 

 Tepeyacac, and Huexotzinco, in the review which was 

 made of them in Tlafcala as they were going to the fiege 

 of Mexico. Cortes himfelf affirms, that the allied troops 



who 



(»') Cortes fpeaks of this city without naming it, but it appears from the con- 

 text to have been the fame ; and Torquemada mentions it exprefsly. 



